TNT locks up during DirectX action (KT7A, Athlon, Win2K, ...)

[GhOR]

Hi all,

I've got a problem that's making me pretty nervous.
Well, first my hardware setup:
Board: ABIT KT7A, newest BIOS
CPU: Athlon TB 1000 C
MEM: 512 Noname (hmm, don't have the timings in my head)
GFX: Diamond Viper 550 / TNT 1 - 16MB - AGP (yep, it's old)
OS: Windows 2000 (german) + SP2
Detonator: As new as needed (well, TNT1 can't get much better anymore )
DirectX: Newest: 8.1

Ok, to the point. Whenever I run an action game with this config, the computer locks up after a "certain time". I.e. the time period differs, but I'm never able to play a "long" time. Maybe 5 to 10 minutes max.
With action games I mean e.g. Colin McRae 2 or NFS Porsche. Adventures don't really hurt that configuration as they are not that demanding. Who would've guessed.

Well, did I forget something? Yep! I definitively got some IRQ problems which indeed don't affect the graphics card (think so).

So now I'm asking for some hints on where to put the lever.

Is this card to old and slow for my system?
OR:
Might the IRQ trouble cause the lock ups?
OR:
Could the cheap noname RAM cause it? (Got no problems with other mem consuming applications!)
OR WHAT?

Thanx in advance,
Alex

 

[jpprod]

I have almost the exactly same configuration in my secondary system:
- Athlon 800MHz
- Abit KT7E (basically KT7A w/ VIA KT133E chipset), latest bios
- Windows 2000, DX8
- TNT1

VIA 4-in-1 drivers and the largepageminimum patches have been applied. The system suffers from random instability in W2K, while it's perfectly stable in Win98. Also, swapping my SDR GeForce in there completely stabilizes the W2K. I'm fairly certain the reason behind the instability is that some software piece in this particular combination (VIA 4-in-1, Abit KT-series BIOS, Win2K) just malfunctions when the old, original TNT is present.

 

[GhOR]

So this sounds like a recommendation for a newer gfx card.

I expected this and am willing to contribute!

Now the question arises which one to buy.
It should be a GeForce as I got the drivers installed (what happens when one switches nVidia cards [like from TNT1 to GeForce xxx]??).

I don't need the best of the best. So I'm looking for a nVidia card with a reasonable price/performance relation...
This GeForce 2 MX stuff is pretty confusing. Sounds like that the MX 400 is the cream of the NV11 family.
Should be good enough for my configuration and me as an average gamer!?

Alex

 

[jpprod]

what happens when one switches nVidia cards [like from TNT1 to GeForce xxx]??

The driver set is unified, for me at least the exact same installation of Detonator drivers works with both the TNT and GeForce. The new card should work automatically provided the drivers are of a somewhat recent version (10+).

 

[hoomza444]

if you are going to upgrade, don't get MX. get anf gf2 that isn't mx. i'd look into getting a gts, pro, or ti. bue no mx !

 

[GhOR]

Why not MX?
MX 400 seems to perform "better" than the normal GeForce2 ?

Alex